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Scranton, Pennsylvania
United States |subdivision_name1 = Pennsylvania |subdivision_name2 = Lackawanna |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Bill Courtright (D) |established_title = Incorporated (borough) |established_title1 = Incorporated (city) |established_date = February 14, 1856 |established_date1 = April 23, 1866 |unit_pref = Imperial |FIPS code = 42069 |area_total_sq_mi = 25.44 |area_total_km2 = 65.89 |area_land_sq_mi = 25.23 |area_land_km2 = 65.33 |area_water_sq_mi = 0.21 |area_water_km2 = 0.55 |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_code = 570/272 |area_metro_sq_mi = 1,777 |area_metro_km2 = |population_as_of = 2013 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 76,089 |population_metro = 562,037 |population_urban = 381,502 |population_density_sq_mi = 3,006 |population_density_km2 = 1,161 |population_demonym = Scrantonian |timezone = EST |utc_offset = -5 |timezone_DST = EDT |utc_offset_DST = -4 |coordinates_display = inline,title |coordinates_type = region:US_type:city |latd= 41 |latm=24 |lats=38 |latNS=N |longd= 75 |longm=40 |longs=03 |longEW=W |elevation_m = |elevation_ft = |postal_code_type = ZIP Codes |postal_code = 18447, 18501-18505, 18507-18510, 18512, 18514-18515, 18517-18519, 18522, 18540, 18577 |website = |footnotes = }} Scranton is the sixth-largest city in the State of Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Reading. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County in the state's northeastern region and is also the central point for the federal court of the area. With a population of 76,089, it is the largest city in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Wyoming Valley. Scranton is the geographic and cultural center of the Lackawanna River valley, and the largest of the former anthracite coal mining communities in a contiguous quilt-work that also includes Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Carbondale. Scranton was incorporated as a borough on February 14, 1856, and as a city on April 23, 1866. Scranton became known as "the Electric City" when electric lights were introduced at Dickson Locomotive Works in 1880. Six years later, the nation's first successful, continuously operating electrified streetcars began operating in the city. History Pre-industrial (1776–1845) Present-day Scranton and its surrounding area had been inhabited by the native Lenape tribe, from whose language "Lackawanna" (or "lac-a-wa-na", meaning "stream that forks") is derived. In 1778, Isaac Tripp, known as the area's first white settler, built his home here; it still stands in the city's Tripp park section. More settlers from New England came to the area in the late 18th century, gradually establishing mills and other small businesses in a village that became known as Slocum Hollow. Arrival of industry (1846–1899) 's painting of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad roundhouse]] Though anthracite coal was being mined in Carbondale to the north and Wilkes-Barre to the south, the industries that precipitated the city's growth were iron and steel. In 1840, brothers Selden T. and George W. Scranton founded what would become the Lackawanna Steel Company. On October 8, 1845, the Montour Iron Works in Danville, Pennsylvania, produced the first iron T-rails made in America, offering the first domestic competition to British exports. The Scrantons' firm followed suit two years later, making rails for the Erie Railroad in New York state, and soon became a major producer. In 1851, the Scrantons founded the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) to transport iron and coal products from the Lackawanna valley. The Pennsylvania Coal Company built a gravity railroad here for the same purpose. In 1856, the Borough of Scranton was officially incorporated. The Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal Company, which had its own gravity railroad from Carbondale to Honesdale, built a steam railroad that entered Scranton in 1863. Scranton was incorporated as a city of 35,000 in 1866 in Luzerne County when the surrounding boroughs of Hyde Park (now part of the city's West Side) and Providence (now part of North Scranton) were merged with Scranton. Twelve years later, the city became the county seat of the newly formed Lackawanna County. The nation's first successful, continuously operating electrified streetcar (trolley) system was established in the city in 1886, giving it the nickname "The Electric City". The Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad — commonly known as the Laurel Line — connected Scranton with neighboring Wilkes-Barre; similar services operated from the nearby towns of Dunmore and Pittston. In 1896, the city's various streetcar companies were consolidated into the Scranton Railway Company, which ran trolleys until 1954. (Today, local historical and community groups are trying to restore portions of the original Laurel Line as a tourist attraction. ) By 1890, three other railroads had built lines to tap into the rich supply of coal in and around the city, including the Erie Railroad, the Central Railroad of New Jersey and finally the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (NYO&W). Underneath the city, a network of coal veins was mined by workers who were given jobs by the wealthy coal barons with low pay, long hours and unsafe working conditions. Children as young as eight or nine worked 14-hour days separating slate from coal in the breakers. In the late 1890s, Scranton was home to a series of early International League baseball teams. Growth and prosperity (1900–1945) yards in Scranton, ca.1895]] By the United States Census of 1900, the population of Scranton was about 102,026, making it the 38th-largest U.S. city. The turn of the 20th century saw many beautiful homes of Victorian architecture built in the Hill and Green Ridge sections of the city. In 1901, the dwindling local iron ore supply cost the city the industry on which it was founded. The Lackawanna Steel Company moved to Lackawanna, New York, where iron ore was more readily available, thanks to a Great Lakes port that gave it easy access to ore from Minnesota. Scranton forged ahead as the center of Pennsylvania's anthracite coal industry. During the first half of the 20th century, it became home to many groups of new immigrants from Central Europe. This patchwork still survives and is represented by the Catholic and Orthodox churches that primarily dot the North Scranton, West Side, and South Side neighborhoods of the city; a substantial Jewish community was established as well. In 1903, an electric interurban railroad known as the Laurel Line was started, and two years later connected to nearby Wilkes-Barre, to the southwest. Working conditions for miners were improved by the efforts of labor leaders like John Mitchell, who is honored with a statue on the downtown Courthouse Square. Starting in the early 1920s, the Scranton Button Company (founded in 1885 and a major maker of shellac buttons) became one of the primary makers of phonograph records. They pressed records for Emerson (whom they bought in 1924), as well as Regal, Cameo, Romeo, Banner, Domino, Conqueror. In July 1929, the company merged with Regal, Cameo, Banner, and the U.S. branch of Pathe (makers of Pathe and Perfect) to become the American Record Corporation. By 1938, the Scranton company was also pressing records for Brunswick, Melotone, and Vocalion. In 1946, the company was acquired by Capitol, and continued to produce Capitol Records through the end of the vinyl era. By the mid-1930s, the city population had swelled beyond 140,000 thanks largely to the growing mining and silk textile industries. World War II created a great demand for energy, which led to more mining in the area. Image:Washington Avenue, Scranton, PA.jpg|Washington Ave. in 1907 Image:Burning Culm Dump, Scranton, PA.jpg|Burning culm dump c. 1908 Image:Old Post Office, Scranton, PA.jpg|Old post office in 1911 Post-WWII (1946–1984) After World War II, coal lost favor to oil and natural gas. While some U.S. cities prospered in the post-war boom, the fortunes and population of Scranton (and the rest of Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties) began to diminish. Coal production and rail traffic declined rapidly throughout the 1950s. In 1952, the Laurel Line ceased passenger service. The Scranton Transit Company, whose trolleys had given the city its nickname, transferred all operations to buses as the 1954 holiday season approached. In 1955, some eastern and southern parts of the city were destroyed by the floods of Hurricane Diane, and 80 lives were lost. The NYO&W Railroad, which depended heavily on its Scranton branch for freight traffic, was abandoned in 1957. The Knox Mine Disaster of January 1959 erased the mining industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The event eliminated thousands of jobs as the waters of the Susquehanna River flooded the mines. The DL&W Railroad, nearly bankrupt by the drop in coal traffic and the effects of Hurricane Diane, merged with the Erie Railroad in 1960. Scranton had been the hub of its operations until the Erie Lackawanna merger, when it was no longer needed in this capacity; it was another severe blow to the labor market. Mine subsidence was a spreading problem in the city as pillar supports in abandoned mines began to fail; cave-ins sometimes consumed entire blocks of homes. The area was then scarred by abandoned coal mining structures, strip mines, and massive culm dumps. During the 1960s and 1970s, the silk and other textile industries shrunk as jobs moved south or overseas. There were some small bright spots during the era. In 1962, businessman Alex Grass opened his first "Thrif D Discount Center" drugstore on Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton. The store, an immediate success, was the progenitor of the Rite Aid drugstore chain. In 1970, the Secretary of Mines for Pennsylvania suggested that so many underground voids had been left by mining underneath Scranton that it would be "more economical" to abandon the city than make them safe. During the 1970s and 1980s, many downtown storefronts and theaters became vacant as suburban shopping malls became the dominant venues for shopping and entertainment. Stabilization and restoration (1985–) There has been an emphasis on revitalization since the mid-1980s. Local government and much of the community at large have adopted a renewed interest in the city's buildings and history. Aged and empty properties are being redesigned and marketed as tourist attractions. The Steamtown National Historic Site captures the area's once-prominent position in the railroad industry. The former DL&W train station was restored as the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. The Electric City Trolley Museum was created next to the DL&W yards that the Steamtown NHS occupies. The Scranton Cultural Center has operated the architecturally significant Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral, designed by Raymond Hood, as the region's performing arts center since the mid-1980s. The Houdini Museum opened in Scranton by nationally known magician Dorothy Dietrich in 1990 and is the only museum in the world dedicated to Harry Houdini. The museum has been featured on more national television than other NE PA attractions combined. In 2003, Hilton Hotels & Resorts opened the Hilton Scranton Hotel & Conference Center at the corner of Adams Street & Lackawanna Street in the heart of downtown Scranton. Due to the current rage of paranormal themed televisions shows a popular downtown historic Scranton Ghost Walk http://scrantonghostwalk.com/ is now available 365 days a year. Other attractions responsible for recent popularity and favorable attention to the Scranton area include the Montage Mountain ski resort (formerly Snö Mountain), the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders (formerly the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees and before that the Red Barons), AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees, and their PNC Field, and the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain concert venue. Image:Courthouse_Square.JPG|Courthouse Square Image:Scranton_Electric_Building.JPG|Scranton Electric Building Image:Scranton_City_Hall.JPG|Scranton City Hall Image:St._Peter%27s_Cathedral.JPG|St. Peter's Cathedral Image:Electric_City_Mural.JPG|Electric City Mural Image:First_Liberty_Building.JPG|First Liberty Building Image:Scranton_Post_Office.JPG|US Post Office and Federal Building Image:Brooks_Building.JPG|Brooks Building Image:Downtown_Scranton_at_night.JPG|Downtown Scranton at night Image:Scranton_Times_building.JPG|Scranton Times Building Geography Scranton is located at (41.410629, −75.667411). Its total area of includes of land and of water, according to the United States Census Bureau. Scranton is drained by the Lackawanna River. Center City is about 750 feet (229 m) above sea level, although the hilly city's inhabited portions range about from . The city is flanked by mountains to the east and west whose elevations range from . Climate Scranton has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa/Dfb), with four distinct seasons. Summers are humid and very warm, with occasional heat waves, while winters are cold and snowy. The monthly daily average temperature in January, the coldest month, is , while the same figure in July, the warmest month, is . Extremes in temperatures have ranged from on July 9, 1936 down to on January 21, 1994; there is an average of only 9.2 days of + highs, 37 days where the high fails to rise above freezing, and 3 days of sub- lows. Precipitation is generally slightly greater during late spring and summer, while winter is generally the driest. On average, each month sees 10 to 13 days of precipitation, and the mean annual total is . Snowfall is variable, with some winters bringing light snow and others bringing numerous snowstorms. For the 1981–2010 period, snowfall has averaged per year, with January and February accounting for the majority of the seasonal total; on average, the first and last dates of measurable (≥ ) snowfall are November 15 and April 4, respectively, with snow in October a rare occurrence. Neighborhoods Scranton is broken into six major sections: Minooka, West Side, South Side, the Hill Section (a.k.a. East Scranton), North Scranton, and Downtown. As with most cities and neighborhoods, boundaries can be ambiguous and are not always uniformly defined. West Scranton (West Side) (shown in orange) is made up of a group of smaller neighborhoods including Hyde Park, West Mountain (everything north of Keyser Ave.), the Keyser Valley, Bellevue, and Tripp Park. North Scranton (shown in blue) contains the neighborhood of Providence. The Upper Green Ridge area is the wealthiest of the neighborhoods, which extends into the neighboring borough of Dunmore. It was here and in parts of the Hill Section that the mansions built by former coal barons still stand. South Scranton (South Side) has the Nativity Section, St. Johns, the Flats, East Mountain (everything east of Interstate 81), and Minooka, which is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the city. Adjacent municipalities * South Abington Township (north and northwest) * Dickson City (north) * Throop (northeast) * Dunmore (east) * Roaring Brook Township (east and southeast) * Spring Brook Township (south) * Moosic (south) * Taylor (west and southwest) * Ransom Township (west) Demographics 2013 Estimate }} As of the 2010 census, there were 76,089 people, 30,069 households, and 18,124 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,006/mi² (1,161/km²). There were 33,853 housing units at an average density of 1,342/mi² (518/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.11% White, 5.45% African American, 0.23% Native American, 2.98% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.69% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race make up 9.90% of the population. There were 30,069 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. The city had 36.7% of its households with single occupancy and 18.1% whose individuals was aged at least 65. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.01. The population's age is distributed with 20.8% under 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% at least 65. The median age was 39. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females aged at least 18, there were 83.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,805, and the median income for a family was $41,642. Males had a median income of $30,829 versus $21,858 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,174. Found below the poverty line are 15.0% of the population, 10.7% of families, 18.9% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those at least age 65. The local dialect of American English is "Northeast Pennsylvania English", at least for the older generations of Scranton residents. As of the 2006 American Community Survey, the average family size is 2.95. Of the population that's 25 years old and over, 83.3% of them have graduated from High School. 18.7% of them have a Bachelor's degree or higher. In labor force (population 16 years and over), 57.6% of them work. The per capita income (in 2006 inflation-adjusted dollars) is $17,187. Public safety Fire department The Bureau of Fire was incorporated as a paid service in 1901. It is a full-time service consisting of about 130 firefighters. Its headquarters is on Mulberry Street in Central City. The fire department has eight fire stations, which are located in the city's South Side, Central City, the Pinebrook section, West Side, North Scranton, Bull's Head, and on East Mountain. It has 9 firefighting vehicles, including six engines, two trucks, and one rescue engine. Due to recent changes in staffing in early 2011, Engine Company #9 was closed, and at times some remaining companies are left unmanned due to lack of manpower Police The Scranton Police Patrol Division is broken down into three shifts. Police headquarters is located on South Washington Avenue in downtown Scranton. Special Units include Arson Investigations, Auto Theft Task Force, Child Abuse Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Investigation, Juvenile Unit, Special Investigations Unit, Canine Unit, Community Development and Highway Unit. The Police department has recently opened two new satellite stations. The Highway Unit was relocated to one new station at N. Keyser Ave & Morgan Highway. The second was opened at the Valley View Housing complex. There are plans for at least one more, with possibly two. Emergency medical services Emergency medical services are provided by three private companies, Community Life Support, Lackawanna Ambulance, and Pennsylvania Ambulance. The city requires that only Advanced Life Support units respond to emergencies, which include a crew of a Paramedic and an EMT. Ambulances are dispatched by an advanced GPS system which allows the 911 dispatcher to send the closest ambulance to the scene of the emergency. Culture Media The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is the 54th-largest U.S. television market. Local television stations include: * WNEP-TV ABC affiliate * WBRE-TV NBC affiliate * WYOU-TV CBS affiliate * WVIA-TV PBS affiliate * WOLF-TV Fox affiliate * WQMY MyNetworkTV affiliate * WSWB CW affiliate * WQPX ION Television affiliate Local public-access television and government-access television (ECTV) programming is aired on Comcast cable TV channels 19 and 21. Scranton hosts the headquarters of Times-Shamrock Communications, which publishes the city's major newspaper, The Times-Tribune, a Pulitzer Prize-winning broadsheet daily founded in 1870. Times-Shamrock also publishes the'' Electric City'', a weekly entertainment tabloid and The Citizens' Voice, a daily tabloid based in Wilkes-Barre. The Scranton Post is a weekly general interest broadsheet. The Times Leader is a daily paper that primarily covers Wilkes-Barre. The Times Leader also publishes Go Lackawannahttp://golackawanna.com/, a Sunday newspaper serving Scranton and surrounding municipalities, and the Weekender is a Wilkes-Barre-based entertainment tabloid with distribution in Scranton. There are several other print publications with a more narrow focus, including the Union News, La Voz Latina, and Melanian News. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre radio market is ranked #71 in the country by Arbitron. Sports Scranton's professional sports date to 1887, when the minor-league Scranton Indians became the city's first professional baseball team. Many more followed, including teams in the Pennsylvania State League, Eastern League, Atlantic League, New York State League, New York-Penn League and the New York-Pennsylvania League. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the International League play their home games at PNC Field in Moosic, south of Scranton. In football, the Scranton Eagles, a semi-pro/minor league team, dominate their Empire Football League, having won 11 championships. The former arena football Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, who played eight seasons at the Mohegan Sun Arena (formerly Wachovia Arena) in Wilkes-Barre Township had made the playoffs in their last six years of existence and contended for the ArenaCup VIII in 2007 and the ArenaCup X in 2009, their final year, but lost both times. Another semi-pro/minor league team the North East Pennsylvania Miners of the Big North East Football Federation (BNEFF) recently started play in the area in 2007. Scranton previously had pro basketball teams, including the Scranton Apollos, Scranton Miners and Scranton Zappers. Syracuse University men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim played for the Miners before turning to coaching. In 2012, the city played host to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Steamers of the Premier Basketball League. Professional ice hockey arrived in 1999 when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League began play at the Mohegan Sun Arena (formerly Wachovia Arena) in Wilkes-Barre Township. The team won conference championships in 2001, 2004, and 2008. Watres Armory in Scranton hosted World Heavyweight Championship fight between titlist Larry Holmes and challenger, European champion Lucien Rodrigues of France on 27 March 1983. Holmes retained his title via a unanimous 12-round decision without losing a single round in any official scorecard.BoxRec Boxing Records Landmarks and attractions showcases steam-era railroading. Excursion trains give visitors tours through Scranton and portions of the Pocono Mountains.]] Many of Scranton's attractions celebrate its heritage as an industrial center in iron and coal production and its ethnic diversity. The Scranton Iron Furnaces are remnants of the city's founding industry and of the Scranton family's Lackawanna Steel Company. The Steamtown National Historic Site seeks to preserve the history of railroads in the Northeast. The Electric City Trolley Museum preserves and operates pieces of Pennsylvania streetcar history. The Lackawanna Coal Mine tour at McDade Park, conducted inside a former mine, describes the history of mining and railroads in the Scranton area.Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour | Lackawanna County Convention Visitors Bureau The former DL&W Passenger Station is now the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel. Museums in Scranton include the Everhart Museum in Nay Aug Park, which houses a collection of natural history, science and art exhibits; and the Houdini Museum, which features films, exhibits, and a stage show in a unique, century-old building. Terence Powderly's house, still a private dwelling, is one of the city's many historic buildings and, with Steamtown, the city's other National Historic Landmark. In addition, The Lackawanna Historical Society, founded in 1886 and located at the George H. Catlin House in Scranton's Hill Section, focuses on the history of Lackawanna County. Tripp House, built by the Tripp family in 1771, is the oldest building in the city. The city's religious history is evident in the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Ann, which draws thousands of pilgrims to its annual novena, and St. Stanislaus Cathedral, the seat of the Polish National Catholic Church in North America. The history of the founding of this denomination is tied to Polish immigration to Scranton in the late 19th century. Since the 1970s, Scranton has hosted La Festa Italiana, a three-day Italian festival that takes place on Labor Day weekend on the courthouse square. The festival originally took place around Columbus Day, but was moved because Scranton generally receives cold weather in October. Scranton's large Irish population is represented in the annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade, first held in 1862. Organized by the St. Patrick's Day Parade Association of Lackawanna County, it is the nation's fourth-largest in attendance and second-largest in per capita attendance. Held on the Saturday before Saint Patrick's Day, the parade includes more than 8,000 people, including floats, bagpipe players, high school bands and Irish groups. In 2008, attendance estimates were as high as 150,000 people.The Times-Tribune – City: Crowds up, rowdies contained at parade For recreation, there is Snö Mountain Ski Resort, formerly "Montage Mountain", which rivals the numerous resorts of the Poconos in popularity and offers a relatively comprehensive range of difficulty levels. The Steamtown Marathon has been held each October since 1996 and finishes in downtown Scranton. Nay Aug park is the largest of several parks in Scranton and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also laid out Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. The city is the home of Electric Theatre Company, a professional Equity theatre with a nine-month season.http://www.electrictheatre.org/3%20How%20&%20Where/Location.html Scranton's primary concert venue is the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain, a partially covered amphitheater that seats 17,500. Its summer concerts have included James Taylor, Dave Matthews Band, and many other musical acts. Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple is an impressive piece of architecture which houses several auditoriums and a large ballroom. It hosts the Northeast Philharmonic, Broadway Theater and other touring performances. Cooper's Seafood House, formerly the Erie Train Station on North Washington Avenue, has been in business for more than 60 years. In popular culture , the fictional paper company on NBC's The Office hangs in downtown Scranton.]] The city is the home to a regional branch of the fictional Dunder-Mifflin paper company, the setting of the NBC sitcom The Office. The exterior of the Penn Paper & Supply at 215 Vine Street appears in the opening titles of the show. The Office has left a lasting mark on Scranton: banners for Dunder Mifflin fly outside of the Mayor's Office, while store owners advertise their businesses with signs saying "Eat where The Office eats". Other appearances in pop culture include: * The city is imagined as a member of the class of interstellar Okies in James Blish's 1962 novel, A Life for the Stars." Scranton, in 2273, leaves an impoverished Earth behind, under Spindizzy drive. * The 1973 Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning play ''That Championship Season by Scranton resident Jason Miller was based on the fictionalized lives of Scranton's 1957 state basketball champions. Miller wrote and directed the 1982 film, in which all exterior scenes were filmed in Scranton. * The city is the subject of George Inness's 1855 painting, The Lackawanna Valley, which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. * The 2002 novel Mine Seed by Scranton native Lucia Dailey is set in Scranton.Mine Seed referenced: Anthracite! An Anthology of Coal Region Drama, Scranton: Univ. of Scranton Press, 2006. * The 2010 film Blue Valentine was filmed in the Scranton area; the University of Scranton campus and downtown Scranton appear in various scenes. *Woody Harrelson's character Roy Munson is shown to be living in Scranton in the film Kingpin. * A song by Harry Chapin entitled "30,000 lbs. of Bananas" centers around a truck driver making an ill fated delivery of bananas to Scranton. Based on a true story, the truck crashed on Moosic Street delivering bananas to the A&P. * In the hit TV show Friends, Ross was seeking to get his monkey into the Scranton zoo. * Scranton punk band, The Menzingers, refers to "The Electric City" in their song "Ave Maria." * Scranton is the final city that Kate McCallister (Catherine O'Hara) flies to before joining Gus Polinski's (John Candy) polka band for a van ride to Chicago in Home Alone. * In an early episode of Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, "What You Need", an out of work baseball pitcher, while in a bar, is given a bus ticket to Scranton, PA by an old man. Shortly thereafter a phone call comes in for the pitcher offering him a position in Scranton at a minor league baseball club. * The character of David Green, played by Brendan Fraser in the movie School Ties, was from Scranton. Transportation The main highways that serve Scranton are Interstate 81, which runs north to Binghamton, New York and Ontario and south to Harrisburg and Tennessee; Interstate 84, which runs east to Milford and New England; Interstate 380, which runs southeast to Mount Pocono and Interstate 80 east to New York City and west to San Francisco; Interstate 476/Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension, which runs south to Allentown and Philadelphia; U.S. Route 6, which runs east to Carbondale and parallel to I-84 to New England and west to Erie; and U.S. Route 11, which runs parallel to I-81. Scranton's provider of public transportation is the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS). COLTS buses provide extensive service within the city and more limited service that reaches in all directions to Carbondale, Daleville, Pittston, and Fleetville. The other bussing company is the LCTA which is the "Luzerne county transit authority", which mainly runs through The Minooka section (closest to Luzerne County) and Downtown Scranton by the steamtown mall. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is located in nearby Avoca. The airport is serviced by American Airlines, Delta, United, and US Airways. Martz Trailways and Greyhound Lines provide coach bus transportation from its downtown station to New York City, Philadelphia and other points in the northeast. Private operators such as Posten Taxi and McCarthy Flowered Cabs service the Scranton area. They are hired by telephone through central dispatch and cannot be hailed on the street as in larger cities. Railroads Rail transportation, vital to the city's historic growth, remains important today. The Canadian Pacific Railway (Delaware and Hudson division) runs freight trains on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) line between Scranton and Binghamton, with frequent through trains often jointly operated with Norfolk Southern Railway. The Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad serves the former DL&W Keyser Valley branch in the city. The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, as designated operator of county-owned rail lines, oversees the former Delaware and Hudson line from Scranton north to Carbondale, the former DL&W line east to the Delaware Water Gap and the former Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad third-rail interurban streetcar line south to Montage Mountain, Moosic. These lines host the seasonal passenger trains of both the Steamtown National Historic Site and the Electric City Trolley Museum and are under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority. The PNRRA was created by Lackawanna County and Monroe County to oversee the use of common rail freight lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including one formerly owned by Conrail running from Scranton, through the Pocono Mountains towards New Jersey and the New York City market. One of its primary objectives is to re-establish rail passenger service to Hoboken, New Jersey and thence by connection to New York. As of 2011, regular passenger train service to Scranton is slated to be restored under a plan to extend New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) service from Hoboken via the Lackawanna Cut-Off. The trains would pass the Lackawanna Station building and pull in at a new Scranton station on Lackawanna Avenue along the northernmost track east of Bridge 60 (the railroad bridge over the Lackawanna River) and the Cliff Street underpass.NEW JERSEY – PENNSYLVANIA LACKAWANNA CUT-OFF PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE RESTORATION PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration and NEW JERSEY TRANSIT in Cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, June 2008. Education Primary and secondary education The city's public schools are operated by the Scranton School District (SSD), which serves almost 10,000 students. The city has two public high schools for grades 9–12: Scranton High School just northwest of the downtown and West Scranton High School located on the West Side of the city. The district also has three public middle schools for grades 6–8: Northeast Intermediate, South Scranton Intermediate, and West Scranton Intermediate. In addition, SSD maintains 12 public elementary schools for grades K–5. Scranton has two private high schools: Scranton Preparatory School, a private Jesuit school, and Yeshiva Bais Moshe, an Ultra Orthodox school. Holy Cross High School in Dunmore is a Catholic high school operated by the Diocese of Scranton that serves students in Scranton and the surrounding area. The diocese also operates several private elementary schools in the city. Protestant schools that serve the Scranton area include Abington Christian Academy, Canaan Christian Academy, The Geneva School, Summit Academy, and Triboro Christian Academy. The Pennsylvania Department of Education provides oversight for the Scranton School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.116|124|&depart_eduNav=|1919|1927 Dept. Info.: State Owned School Greeting Penn Foster High School, a distance education high school, is headquartered in Scranton. Scranton, West Scranton, Scranton Prep and Holy Cross all compete athletically in Pennsylvania's Lackawanna League which is a part of District 2 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. Colleges and universities The city hosts five colleges and universities: The University of Scranton, The Commonwealth Medical College, Johnson College, Lackawanna College, Marywood University; and one technical school, Fortis Institute. The Pennsylvania State University operates a Commonwealth Campus north of the city, in the borough of Dunmore, where ITT Tech is also located. Penn Foster Career School, a distance education vocational school, is headquartered in Scranton. Other colleges within of Scranton include Baptist Bible College & Seminary and Keystone College. Libraries The Lackawanna County Library System administers the libraries in Scranton, including the Albright Memorial Library and the Lackawanna County Children's Library. As of 2008, Scranton libraries serve more than 96,000 people and have a circulation of over 547,000. Notable people Politicians * Joseph Biden—current Vice President of the United States, former U.S. Senator from Delaware * Frank Carlucci—United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 until 1989 * Robert P. Casey—42nd Governor of Pennsylvania. (Democrat) * Robert P. Casey, Jr.—current senior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania * Hermann Eilts—former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Bangladesh * John R. Farr —Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives * Terence V. Powderly—head of the Knights of Labor from 1879 until 1893 * Robert Reich— professor, author, and political commentator, United States Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, from 1993 to 1997 * William Scranton—38th Governor of Pennsylvania and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations * William Scranton III—Republican Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987 * Joel Wachs (born 1939)— Los Angeles, California, City Council member for thirty years (1970–2001), president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City Arts * Walter Bobbie – theatre director and choreographer * Alan Brown – filmmaker * Sonny Burke – big band leader * Mark Cohen – photographer * Bob Degen – jazz pianist * Dorothy Dietrich – stage magician, escapologist, owner with Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum. Both host two shows on WFTE FM radio. Featured on dozens of national television shows. * Cy Endfield – screenwriter, film director, theatre director, author, magician and inventor * Jane Jacobs – writer and activist with primary interest in communities and urban planning and decay, author of the influential The death and life of great american cities, saved Greenwich Village from the planning knife of Robert Moses * Gloria Jean – singer and actress * Jean Kerr – author and playwright * Michael Patrick King – writer, director and producer for television shows and movies, co-creator of 2 Broke Girls and The Comeback * Michael Kuchwara – theater critic, columnist and journalist * Gershon Legman – cultural critic and folklorist * Bradford Louryk – multi-award winning theater artist and actor * Judy McGrath – television executive, CEO of MTV Networks * The Menzingers – Punk band * W.S. Merwin – poet, 17th United States Poet Laureate * Jason Miller – actor and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright * Bruce Mozert, photographer * Jay Parini – writer and academic * Cynthia Rothrock – martial artist and actress specializing in martial arts films * Lizabeth Scott – actress and singer, widely known for her film noir roles * Melanie Smith – actress noted for playing "Emily" on As The World Turns * Thomas L. Thomas – Welsh-American baritone concert singer * Ned Washington – lyricist * Lauren Weisberger – novelist and author of the 2003 bestseller The Devil Wears Prada * Motionless in White – gothic metalcore band * Tigers Jaw - indie rock, emo band Sports * P.J. Carlesimo – professional basketball coach and television broadcaster * Nick Chickillo – NFL player * Nestor Chylak – Baseball Hall of Famer and American League umpire from 1954 to 1978 * Joe Collins – Major League Baseball player * Jim Crowley – American football player and coach, one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield * Paul Foytack – Major League Baseball pitcher * Charlie Gelbert – Major League Baseball player * Cosmo Iacavazzi – college and American Football League player * Edgar Jones – college and professional football player * Ralph Lomma – popularized miniature golf in the mid-1950s * Matt McGloin – Oakland Raiders Quarterback * Gerry McNamara – basketball player * Mike Munchak – former head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the NFL, former college and National Football League player; member of NFL Hall of Fame * Brothers Jim and Steve O'Neill – Major League Baseball players * Jackie Paterson – Scottish boxer * Tim Ruddy – college and National Football League player * Greg Sherman - general manager of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche * Marc Spindler – college and National Football League player * Brian Stann – Mixed martial artist currently fighting in the UFC, former WEC Light Heavyweight MMA champion * Bill Lazor - current Offensive Coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, former quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins and the Seattle Seahawks Others * Joseph Bambera – 10th and current Bishop of Scranton * Mamie Cadden – Irish midwife and backstreet abortionist * Lisa Caputo – current Executive VP, Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs for Citigroup * Howard Gardner – developmental psychologist and professor * Alex Grass – businessman and lawyer who founded Rite Aid * Jeffrey Bruce Klein – investigative journalist who co-founded Mother Jones (magazine) in 1976 * Gino J. Merli – American soldier, and recipient of the Medal of Honor during World War II * Robert C. Morlino – 4th and current Bishop of Madison * John Joseph O'Connor – 11th bishop (8th archbishop) of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, 7th Bishop of Scranton * Karen Ann Quinlan – important person in the history of the right to die controversy * Hugh Ellsworth Rodham – father of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton * William Henry Richmond - coal mine operator * B.F. Skinner – behaviorist, author, inventor, social philosopher, and poet * Charles Sumner "Sum" Woolworth – retailer, philanthropist, co-founder of the Woolworth chain, founder of C. S. Woolworth and Co., Board Chairman of F. W. Woolworth Company from 1919 to 1945 * Mel Ziegler – cofounded two companies, The Republic of Tea and Banana Republic * Christopher Condron – former CEO of AXA Equitable, Board President University of Scranton, and American-Ireland Fund Christopher Condron Forbes Profile Sister cities Scranton has three official sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International: * Ballina, Co. Mayo, Republic of Ireland * Balakovo, Russia * Trnava, Slovakia * Perugia, Italy * City of San Marino, San Marino See also * Polish Cathedral style * Scranton Army Ammunition Plant Notes References External links * City of Scranton * Albright Memorial Library * Lackawanna Historical Society * Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce * Rediscover Scranton * Scranton Tomorrow * The Commonwealth Medical College * The Houdini Museum }} Category:Scranton, Pennsylvania Category:Cities in Pennsylvania Category:County seats in Pennsylvania Category:Municipalities of the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania Category:Settlements established in 1778 Category:Cities in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Category:Lackawanna Heritage Valley